Detective and mystery stories, English; Horror tales, English
April 25.--I was laid up in bed for two days after my incredible
adventure in the cavern. I use the adjective with a very definite
meaning, for I have had an experience since which has shocked me almost
as much as the other. I have said that I was looking round for someone
who could advise me. There is a Dr. Mark Johnson who practices some
few miles away, to whom I had a note of recommendation from Professor
Saunderson. To him I drove, when I was strong enough to get about, and
I recounted to him my whole strange experience. He listened intently,
and then carefully examined me, paying special attention to my reflexes
and to the pupils of my eyes. When he had finished, he refused to
discuss my adventure, saying that it was entirely beyond him, but he
gave me the card of a Mr. Picton at Castleton, with the advice that I
should instantly go to him and tell him the story exactly as I had done
to himself. He was, according to my adviser, the very man who was
pre-eminently suited to help me. I went on to the station, therefore,
and made my way to the little town, which is some ten miles away. Mr.
Picton appeared to be a man of importance, as his brass plate was
displayed upon the door of a considerable building on the outskirts of
the town. I was about to ring his bell, when some misgiving came into
my mind, and, crossing to a neighbouring shop, I asked the man behind
the counter if he could tell me anything of Mr. Picton. "Why," said
he, "he is the best mad doctor in Derbyshire, and yonder is his
asylum." You can imagine that it was not long before I had shaken the
dust of Castleton from my feet and returned to the farm, cursing all
unimaginative pedants who cannot conceive that there may be things in
creation which have never yet chanced to come across their mole's
vision. After all, now that I am cooler, I can afford to admit that I
have been no more sympathetic to Armitage than Dr. Johnson has been to
me.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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